New Beginnings
by TheCupcakePenguin
Summary: Recently moving to Club Penguin from a tragic event on IceBurg 80, fraternal twins, Brady and Penelope Gariwald now live with their uncle, Gary. As the twins adjust to the island, they find that it's not always easy to start a new beginning. (Re-Published because of glitches c: Enjoy)
1. Just the Beginning

"Welcome home."

My twin brother and I stepped into the old Victorian-style home. Our eyes gazed at the features of the house.

It was a big house. You know, the ones you might find or read about in mystery books where the detective would look for clues and such. It was a well hidden property. Away from busy streets and rural areas you might find around the island. Peaceful and calm was a way to describe it.

We looked towards our Uncle. He smiled calmly at us.

"You can explore the residence if you wish. Just do not touch anything yet. A lot of these items are priceless family heirlooms."

I held onto my small teddy bear I had as a kid. "M-May we go to our bedroom too, Uncle?" I asked.

Uncle adjusted his glasses. "Of course. It's the first door you see on your left." My brother and I looked at each other with excited glances, and rushed up the stairs.

Of course, he would be faster than me.. I mean, look at him. He's obviously taller then me, has great stamina, and has the sharpest ideas.

I guess it's because of all the mystery books he reads. I, myself like reading Japanese manga, or Sci-Fi books.

"First door on the... left. Aha, I see. C'mon Penelope." My brother said. He held my flipper, as we both walked towards the door.

I grasped the brass handle and turned the knob. The room was big and spacey. On opposite sides of the room were our beds, desks and a few book shelves. A opened closet at the back of the room showed two split areas. One side for me, one side for Brady.

"So, which bed do you wanna take?" I asked him. He looked around at both beds.

"I'll take the one near the door.. Just incase.." He said in a glum expression. I nodded and headed towards the bed next to the window. I dropped my suitcase at the foot of the bed and sat down. Teddy bear in flippers, I held it tighter.

My name is Penelope Gariwald. I live in my Uncle Gary's house on the island of Club Penguin, along with my twin brother, Brandon Gariwald. He usually goes by Brady.

We're fraternal twins. It means we hardly look alike. To be honest, I don't look anything like my family... Except my mom.

Every Gariwald I've seen, read or heard about always has blue feathers, olive green eyes, and brown hair. I'm different. I have aqua feathers, sky blue eyes and dirty-blond hair.

Back on IceBurg 80, the other penguins my age would make fun of me because I looked and acted differently. They always thought I was dumb and clueless about the world around me.

That wasn't true. Yes, sometimes I'd daze into my own world, but it didn't mean that I was dumb. I never had a blond moment, or whatever that is, either. I was a little klutzy though.

That was the only thing that bothered me, and Brady would have to step up... Because I was too afraid to.

The thing that bothered me the most, and maybe for the rest of my life, was what happened last summer.

It was nice.

Just the typical cozy family time, where we'd play games, tell stories and occasionally sing songs. Everything was okay... it was all okay...

Until the unthinkable happened. Robbers and their ways..

The pain to watch my parents get killed in front of me was unbearable. I fought back. I really did. My tears were the only things that held me back.

And I lost a battle I could never win again.

The only person who could win the battle for us was Brady. I watched as he played the part of the murderer and stabbed the two robbers in matter of seconds.

That's why he's so protective of me.

We both lived in fear and depression in foster homes, that had us separated. I cried at the though of never seeing my brother again.

The family I had was cruel. They made me their personal slave, and tried to beat me if I made one wrong move. I never wanted to hear Brady's side of the story... I though it would be worse than mine.

The day the head office of the FosterPenguin Care had announced that we had more relatives living on a different island, the foster homes had no choice, but to send us there.

It was the first in eight months where I actually got to see Brady.

And here we are, now reunited and safe from harm, in our Uncle's house.

I took my sketch book from my suitcase and began to draw a tree. It was a cherry blossom tree. I was really fond of it. Though I've never seen a real cherry blossom, I always read about them in books and imagine what they'd look like.

I looked over at Brady. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, looking towards the floor.

I jumped up and walked towards the door. "I'm gonna see if there's anything to eat."

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Fine.."

I closed the door behind me and went downstairs. I wasn't exactly sure where the kitchen was, but luckily Uncle was at the bottom of the stairs.

Flippers behind his back, he smiled at me. "Enjoying the room?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Um uncle, where's the kitchen?"

He chuckled. "I was just about to call you two down for dinner. Could you please inform your brother?"

"Okay."

I went back up the stairs and towards the bedroom door.

"Brady?"

I heard the bed creak. Within a few seconds, Brady was standing at the door way. The same glum expression was on his face.

"What is it..?"

I looked at him with a slightly worried face. "Um... It's dinner time."

He sighed. "I'm not hungry.."

"C'mon Brady. Uncle's waiting for us! We can't just turn down a meal from someone who's gonna take care of us for the rest of our lives!" I insisted.

"Fine... But I don't wanna talk much." He said, and followed me down the stairs.

Uncle stood there patiently. "Ah, good-evening Brandon."

"It's Brady..." He replied glumly. I nudged him slightly.

"Brady..."

Uncle still gave a warm smile. "It's quiet alright Penelope. Now, follow me if you please."

We followed uncle through a long hallway, that lead towards a room. A long table and wooden chairs sat there.

I took a seat next to uncle, while Brady sat next to me on the left. Dinner was delicious. Cooked fish, mashed potatoes, and a few garden herbs.

While we ate, uncle asked us some questions. "How do you like the house" or "Was the trip by boat satisfying?"

I mostly answered the questions, and Brady just nodded his head with the yes or no questions.

After dinner, we cleaned up and got into our pyjamas. Uncle tucked us into bed.

"Good night Penelope. Tomorrow we'll visit the town, and maybe tour other areas around the island." Uncle told me.

He looked over at Brady, who was laying down, bouncing a tennis ball against the wall.

"Aren't you tired Brady? It's has been a long trip for the both of you, hasn't it?" Uncle remarked.

"I'm not tired.." He replied, continuing to bounce the tennis ball.

Uncle put his flippers behind his back, and smiled. "I see. Alright then, I suppose you can stay up for a tad bit. Just don't make any sort of racket while the rest of us rest."

Before uncle left the room, I had one more thing to say.

"Uncle Gary?"

"Yes Penelope, what is it?"

"Arigatō. Thanks, for everything." I said.

He smiled. "Your welcome." And with that, he closed the door.


	2. The Plaza

I rolled over, feeling my body shifting my weight. The next thing you know, I was on the floor, rubbing my head. Bed sheets surrounded me. A pillow dropped on my head.

"Nice going you klutz.." Brady said sleepily. He was still in bed, clutching the tennis ball he was playing with yesterday.

It was morning at last.

I got up and shoved the blankets and the pillow onto the bed and ran towards Brady.

I jumped and fell backwards onto the sleeping penguin. He jerked right up, mumbling a few curses.

"Mornin' sucker!" I said, punching him in the arm. He stuck one flipper out and rubbed my head, leaving my hair in a complete mess than it was before.

"Heyy!" I scowled. He gave a satisfied smile and plopped back onto his pillow. I tugged at his flipper.

"C'mon Brady! We're visiting the town today!" I said excitedly.

". . ."

"Wake up.."

". . Z z z. ."

I grabbed a pillow near him and slapped him with it several times.

" .Baka!" I yelled.

Brady sat up, covering his head in protection.

"Stop.. Penelope, please." He begged.

"Unless you get up from the bed, I won't spot trying to kill you."

"Fine! Fine!"

I dropped the pillow on his bed and jumped off. Brady slowly crawled out of bed, while I ran downstairs to see what was for breakfast.

Uncle was in the kitchen, preparing toast and his coffee.

"Morning uncle!" I said cheerfully.

He turned around and chuckled. "It seems that a certain someone is feeling quite enlightened today."

I nodded. "So, what's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Cereal's in the cup board." He replied, pointing to a cabinet beside the fridge.

I walked over and opened it. An array of different cereals were there, everything to Penguin Puffs and Frosty Flakes. I pulled out Frosty Flakes.

"Woah, you've got a lot of cereal here!" I exclaimed.

"When I heard that you two were coming to stay, I'd though best to buy some cereal." Uncle remarked.

I grabbed two clean bowls and spoons from the same cub board. I walked to the fridge and grabbed the milk, then sat down at the table in the other room.

Uncle followed over.

Brady's voice echoed through the house. "Penelope...?"

I rolled my eyes. "What?"

Brady came in. "Never mind.." He said. "Ooh, are those Frosty Flakes?"

I shook the box. "Yup. I already got you a bowl and spoon."

He smiled and took a seat next to me. I handed him over the bowl and spoon.

"I'll pour in the milk, you pour in the cereal." He instructed.

I did what I was told and poured in cereal for the both of us. Brady poured in the milk.

We both wolfed down our breakfast quickly. Uncle looked quite surprised.

"Most penguins I know aren't morning penguins compared to you two." He remarked. "Especially Rookie.."

"Who's Rookie?" I asked.

Uncle shook his head. "Crazy lad, he is. Always falls asleep in our... Meetings at work."

"He should eat more sugar." I suggested. Brady looked at me with a weird expression.

"He does, but at the wrong times.. before bed perhaps. Probably spends all night playing with his toy trains."

I tried to hold my laughter. "T-Trains..?"

Brady looked at uncle with confusion. "How old is he anyways?"

"About the same age as you I suppose.. wait a minute, how old are you two?" Uncle asked.

"We're 13." We both said in sync.

Uncle adjusted his glasses. "My apologies, I may have been off there. He's fourteen. Just a year older." He said, smiling.

"Fourteen?" I said. "Isn't he supposed to be in school?" I asked.

"He is. Rookie just comes and works for us in the times he can." Uncle explained. "His role is very important in our business."

Brady and I looked at each other.

"So.. What do you do at work?" Brady asked. "Are you some scientist guy or something?"

"Well technically, I invent new things for the island and to help out for work." Uncle replied. "Though it takes loads of hard labor, I enjoy it."

Uncle did really look the part. He always had a lab coat on, whether inside or out. I'm not sure if it's just a feeling, but I think uncle's trying to hide something from us.

Maybe Brady's thinking the same thing. A concerned look was stuck on his face for the longest time.

After breakfast Brady and I went upstairs to change. I threw on a light blue sweater and black jeans.

Brady had on a plaid shirt and slightly torn blue jeans.

I went to my desk and grabbed a manga. Brady brought his book of Sherlock Holmes stories.

Once we were downstairs, uncle called us to the living room and explained some rules.

"Since this island is new to you, I suggest that you stick together. Now, I need you both to walk 5 meters in front of me. I need you two in my sight." He instructed.

Brady raised his flipper. "Um... Why do we have to walk 5 meters in front?"

Uncle had a nervous look on his face. "Because, I- oh never mind, let's get a move on!"

He walked past us and headed towards the door. Brady and I looked at each other with confused looks. What could be so important that uncle has hide it from us?

We both laced up our shoes and followed uncle towards a pathway. Waddling up a few more meters in front of him, he instructed where we go.

"Just up ahead, there will be a plaza. Now, I want you two to pretend that I'm not here." The faint voice said.

Brady was feeling un-certain about this. You could tell it by his eyes. He clutched his right flipper and grabbed mine with his left.

"Promise me that you won't get lost or do anything stupid." He said quietly.

I nodded as we continued to walk along the path. A sign with an arrow showed up along the side that said 'Plaza'.

The sound of penguins walking, talking and... strange squeaking filled my ears. I smelled food. Most likely pizza. I licked my lips.

We arrived at the plaza, place buzzing with busy penguins, waddling here and there. Some met up with friends, others stayed by themselves, just enjoying the weather.

There were four buildings. The pizza place, a pet shop, a hotel and a stage. What really caught my attention was in the pet shop.

Small, fluffy creatures in many different colours were jumping up and down at a group of penguins by the window. They had large eyes and a huge smile. Well, expect the little black one in the corner, who was busy taking a nap.

I turned around to ask uncle, but he wasn't there. Instead, a huge group of penguins was crowded around him, pens and notepads, camera's and even media.

"How are you Gadget Guy? Out for a stroll?" I heard one of the penguins say, as he held out a microphone.

"Ah, yes. I was heading to the Everyday Phoning Facility for some files." Uncle replied politely.

Brady and I looked at each other with more confused faces. Why was this giant group of penguins here, and do they want from him?

My eyes widened on what I finally realized.

"Brady!" I said, as I shook him. "Uncle Gary is FAMOUS!"

"Shh!" He replied, covering my beak with his flippers. "Famous or not, we gotta keep quiet. Okay?"

I nodded and shoved his flippers off me. I continued to walk down the snowy path, but stopped to look at the strange creatures at the Pet Shop.

Face pressed against the glass, I peered in and watched the fluffy balls of fur roll and play. A green one came up to me. It stared at me with wide eyes. I waved.

The thing smiled and stuck out his tongue. I giggled. It began doing backflips, over and over again until it got dizzy. I watched as it tumbled over a few times before it could return to it's normal state.

"I like you." I said, looking at the fluff ball. It grinned.

Brady's voice broke through the air. "Penelope! C'mon we gotta go!"

"I gotta go now little buddy. Bye!" I said, and turned to join Brady. I turned around at the window. The green fluff ball had a sad look on it's face as I disappeared into the crowd of penguins.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi! Sorry for taking so long in writing the second chapter c: **

**School and stuff, ya know? Anyways, I'm working on Chap. 3 and I hope you guys like the story so far! -Puffy **


	3. Problems

Author's Note: I'm sorry if this chapter was kinda short ^-^

Anyways, I have changed the rating to K+ due to events happening in the story

enjoy!

* * *

"Um.. Two strawberry smoothies and a mini cupcake please."

The cashier punched in Brady's order. "That will be 8 coins please."

Brady reached into his pocket and pulled out the eight coins and gave it to the cashier. I, however, was watching uncle talk with the crowd outside the Coffee Shop.

Cameras were flashing, and penguins were buzzing with excitement. I turned around to see Brady walking over with our order. He handed me the smoothie and took his.

"Here, I thought you'd want this.." He said in his usual monotone voice. He pushed over the small cupcake. It was vanilla.

"Thanks Brady." I said with a smile.

"You're welcome.."

We sat there in silence. I looked around the room. Not a lot of penguins were here, except a red and purple penguin looking at some papers sprawled on their table.

"Must be busy working folks.." I thought, and continued to eat my cupcake. I felt like listening to their conversation, because Brady didn't have a thing for talking and also, I was bored. I know it's not good to eavesdrop, but I had nothing else to do.

"Are you sure these files are correct Jet?" The purple penguin said. Her short, blonde hair swished back and forth as she looked at each piece of paper.

"I'm sure they're in order, Dot! I checked before we left." The red penguin replied in frustration.

"Then why is one missing?!" Dot replied, flippers on her hips, still holding onto the two papers.

The red penguin almost spat out the coffee he was drinking. "What do you mean one sheet is missing?"

The purple penguin ran through the flies, explaining to her partner what had happened. To the looks of it, Jet looked pretty stressed. So did Dot.

I ignored the conversation and continued scanning the room with my eyes. Nothing much to see.. Just the smoothie stand, coffee makers, a small lounge... A single piece of paper lying near the door.

"Wait.. Hold up." I said to myself. I stood up and walked to the door.

"Penelope where are you going..?" Brady asked. I mumbled under my breath.

"No where, just calm down can you?" I picked up the lose piece of paper and quickly scanned it to make sure it was theirs.

Yup. A piece of paper with fancy wording and a crap-ton of numbers and codes is probably theirs.

"Um.. Excuse me, but I think you might have dropped this."

The two penguins turned around.

"Hand it over." The red penguin said. I gave him the paper. He scanned it, looking satisfied.

"Thank you. If you hadn't found it, I don't know what the EPF would do." The purple penguin said.

"The EPF?" I said, confused. "What's that?"

The two looked at each other. "It's best not to tell.. But we will say that it's an important job we have. What's your name?"

"Penelope." I replied.

The purple penguin smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Dot and he's Jet."

The sound of a chair being dragged across the floor interrupted the 'meet and greet.'

Brady's eyes flashed a dead warning for me. "Come on Penelope. We have to go.."

I looked at Jet and Dot. They smiled. I gave back the action. We said good-bye, as I followed Brady through the doors and out onto the path.

Brady turned around, looking furious. "What the hell did I tell you before?!"

"W-What..?"

"Penelope Gariwald. How many times do I have to remind you to not to go ahead and talk to strangers!" He said sternly.

"But they dropped their paper!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you have to go and give out your name. It wasn't the full name, was it?"

I sighed. "No.. It wasn't."

We stood their in another awkward silence.

"Just.. Stay close where I can see you.." He mumbled. I walked up beside him.

"You sound a lot like mom.." I said quietly. Brady ignored that statement and continued walking.

I looked at him. His eyes were dead. No emotion at all.

I guess it wasn't a good idea to relate him to mom.. he didn't like it whenever I brought up a topic about our family, and so far, I'm guessing that he doesn't like uncle that much either.

How do I know? Hah, day one, his emotions are already dead. The only thing on his mind now is protecting me. Horrible memories can make penguins change.

Brady used to be really talkative, a penguin willing to share ideas. He was that one 'Social butterfly.' But after that.. incident, he's shut himself from the world. It worries me a lot...

That evening, after dinner, I walked into our bedroom to write in my Biology book (I've seen cool things around the island) about all the new things I saw that I never saw on IceBurg 80.

Brady entered the room an hour later. He slammed the door behind him and locked it. I looked over my shoulder. Something was dripping from his sleeves. He took something out of his drawer but I didn't see what happened next. After that, he went to bed.

I placed my pen and book down and walked towards the door. I bent down where I saw the substance drip from Brady's sleeves. As a curious junior like me, I wiped some of the splatters with my flipper, then went near the lamp to see what it was.

I almost fainted..

It was blood. Brady was cutting himself.


End file.
